Cameras captured true horror of July 7 bombings

A dramatic insight into the lead-up to the July 7 bombings and their aftermath was provided for the first time during the trial in a series of CCTV recordings.

Security footage showed the four bombers on an earlier dummy run but the most powerful images were in film of the moments two of their devices exploded.

The pictures played to the jury showed a cloud of dust and smoke filling a platform at Liverpool Street station seconds after a departing train on its way to Aldgate East was blown apart by Shezhad Tanweer, killing seven passengers.

CCTV cameras captured commuters hurrying on to the Circle line train, where Tanweer was already waiting, as it pulled into Liverpool Street. Soon the busy platform was empty and the train pulled out. Forty seconds later there was a flash in the tunnel. Clouds of dust partially obscured the view of two cameras on both sides of the track before people still on the platform were shown running away.

Other footage showed the chaos and horrified reaction of those near the No 30 bus in Tavistock Square when Hasib Hussain detonated a device in his rucksack.

In the film, two people chatting at the front desk dived for cover, then struggled to their feet and hurried in the direction of the blast. Others outside the building were running away.

Pictures from a bus which was just ahead of the No 30 showed panicking passengers jumping out of their seats in shock and struggling to get off the bus when the vehicle behind them exploded.

Hussain's movements prior to the blast were also caught on CCTV. He was seen bending over his rucksack to deal with a technical hitch and then buying an item, believed to be a battery, from a branch of WHSmith.

Wearing sunglasses, he mingled with passers-by on the busy streets outside Kings Cross tube before finally disappearing from view.

Photographs of the devastation caused by the bombs were also seen for the first time at the trial.

The first of the four bombs, detonated by Khan, killed six of his fellow travellers on a Circle line train between Edgware Road and Paddington.

The jury was shown a picture of the mangled wreckage of the train with the doors and windows blown off and the interior charred and blackened. Similar pictures of the train blown up by Tanweer showed the same devastation with bloodstains on the floor.

The device detonated by Lindsay killed 26 passengers on a Piccadilly line train between Kings Cross and Russell Square. Pictures showed one side of the train was ripped off by the blast.

The jury also saw footage of the journey the men made from their homes in Leeds and Aylesbury to Luton railway station on the morning of July 7.

Grainy black and white pictures showed the four gathering around the boot of a hired Nissan Micra car in the car park where they put on the rucksacks containing the bombs. The four then passed through the ticket barriers at Luton station and mingled with passengers on the platform.

The court was shown the last sighting of the four together as they arrived at King Cross Thameslink station in London before disappearing into the underground system.

Earlier footage showed Khan, Tanweer and Lindsay spending four hours in the capital on a dry run nine days earlier. The trio visited various locations on the underground network. They were captured on security cameras meeting at Luton railway station before journeying to Kings Cross and then on to underground stations at Embankment, South Kensington and Baker Street.